Stoke City vs Newcastle United – What the managers are saying…

The shy and retiring Pardew and Pulis.This evening sees our beloved Magpies facing Stoke City away at the Britannia stadium.

As an addition to Jimbob’s excellent match preview, I will be maing my usual review of what the managers have been saying in the run up to the game. As usual, we will also be running our regular “match banter” feature, as well as post match reports, highlights and post match interviews after the game.

Firstly, with this being a Newcastle United blog, I will be taking a look at the black and white corner to see what Alan Pardew has to say looking forward to this evening’s game. Looking back to the team’s first defeat of the season, in the League Cup to Blackburn, he hoped that the team’s “resilience” would have them bouncing back against the difficult challenge of Stoke at home. On this he remarked:

“I don’t really know how they’ll react to defeat because that (winning Gaël Givet) goal came so late and even then we had a good chance with 20 seconds left through Colo.

“There’s obviously a resilience in this team, that’s a given and we take that to Stoke. We don’t want to get beaten in the league so we’ll be fighting for our lives again. It’s just about getting my head around Stoke. It’s a different type of game, the pitch is narrow, the grass is long and they put you under enormous pressure.”

He then looked back to last season’s 4-0 roasting by the Potters, where he unsuccessfully experimented with a 5-3-2 formation to try and combat Stoke’s bombardment on throw ins and long balls into the danger area. Pardew said of that disaster:

“We had a terrible day there last year, I had to take some fault – I set the team up to combat their style rather than focus on our own.”

Then, going back to the Blackburn defeat once again he added:

“It’s on the back of a defeat – and I can’t say it was a disappointing defeat, because there are things that went very, very right in the game.”

Once again looking at Stoke’s big men on a small pitch strategy at the Britannia Stadium, he also commented:

“It’s such a difficult place to go and try to get a result.

“They play with two wingers and two strikers and there’s not many in the Premiership who do that. They have a stadium that makes a lot of noise and they have a pitch that suits them because it’s a small pitch and a lot of things come in your box (ooh er missus!).

“You’ve got to be big and strong and be able to cope with them. Tony’s done a terrific job – and his staff – in targeting players that have taken the club forward every year, and again they look stronger this year.

“So it’s going to be a big test for every team that goes there.”

Hmm, a cautious assessment from the Silver Supremo there, possibly tempered by the sound thrashing we received last season.

Meanwhile, Potters manager, Tony Pulis has been having a good old moan about the “powers that be” for scheduling games at odd times such as Monday evenings.

“We could have done without the game being on a Monday night. We could have done with it over the weekend but money talks for the powers that be who run football,” he whinged.

However he changed his tuned somewhat in another remark about the fixtures saying:

“But you can’t take the money and then argue about the fixtures and when they’re played.”

Speaking on this evening’s opposition, ie us, he commented:

“Alan has been fortunate in that he has been able to keep a settled side.

“When you get off to a good start, the confidence quickly runs through the group.

“The fact that they have been able to keep a settled side means that the new players have gelled. They look strong and they have also got good balance to the side.”

Finally, the manager’s mutual appreciation society continued as he heaped praise on Newcastle’s manager and players. After their good start to the season he said

“Newcastle are flying at the moment and they will come here full of confidence.

“They are a very good team with some very good footballers.

“Alan Pardew has done a wonderful job up there and really stabilised the club and invested superbly well in the summer.”

And that about wraps it up for this review of what the managers are saying before the Stoke game.

Howay the lads!

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1057 articles on this blog.

Worky/Supermac to be fair, the wording of the poll question gives only one real answer and that has to be yes, which is the one I put. Of course he can resurrect his career with us.

Of course if he decides to be a pratt, then he won’t. His choice i’m afraid. Unfortunately he has, I believe, a long term contract so unless the club can terminate it then we may be stuck with him as I can’t see anyone else wanting him. Probably eventually end up in one of the lower leagues!! Perhaps a loan spell with Gatesheed or similar would do him some good.

I think we should win tonight, man for man we are better and there are good vibes in the team, 3-1 to us.

WORKEY
And you too SuperMac, is it really necessary to keep on demonizing the kid, let it go, we know about it, it’s on every news tape, enough already !
I’m really disappointed in both you guys !

Back to the game,
Pardew will probably not play Santon ! Why?
Cause in his opinion , he aint either up to speed with the EPL game nor is he used to the physical nature.
Now i may be wrong but football is football everywhere and if you can play in serie A, surely you can play in the EPL.
So why did he buy the guy if he does’nt expect to use him?
Instead use a makeshift (god knows what his real position is) Raylor, Hey i dont get it ?
So it also appears we are going to use Guthrie as the Tiote fill in, Hmmm !
While others are calling for Gosling, who nobody has seen play yet, they must have looked in their crystal balls ?
Hell i would (controversial i know) play Jonas in the role, got all the requirements, can run all day, good defensively, though his passing at times is not exactly on target, but who’s better ?
So for what it’s worth heres my selection,

***********Krul**************
*****Saylor****Colocinni*****
Simpson****************Santon
***********Jonas*************
Ben Arfa***Cabaye***Marveaux
*********Ba*****************
Raylor
Abeid
Best
Obertan
Goalie
Yeah i know we are playing a bunch of neanderthals and everones legs will be broken, etc.
I recall the Dutch player in the last World Cup, who claimed “we went out there to kick the legs off the Spanish side, but we could’nt catch them.

and Chuck – demomise him? I’d only just done a couple of posts defending him! then he goes out that night and shames us all!
Me & my Mrs get about £20,000 a year hard earned pension – he gets that a week to do what we can only dream of, play for NUFC! – and he treats us with contempt.
OK – nuff said.

“WORKEY
And you too SuperMac, is it really necessary to keep on demonizing the kid,”

Chuck what are you gannin’ on about man? I’m not “demonising” him ye daft get, all I did was roll my eyes!

As I wrote in these pages just the other day, one of my two favourite pkayers ever lost his virginity with a Goat when he was twelve, used his considerably sized member to make half of Brazil pregnant, and was a chronic alcoholic who died of liver failiure.

Look we all know about cops, they are selective in who they arrest.
Is being drunk in Newcastle an offense ?
If so then the majority of the population shouldda been picked up at some time or other.
As for the disorderly, thats a given, the cop twists your arm or chokes you and when you struggle, it’s resisting arrest.
We know how it works,
I’m not claiming, not knowing the full circumstance, what happened, all i am claiming is the worst this kid has done is get drunk so far as we know, yet you would think he had a rap sheet a mile long.
With some on these blogs calling for the club to get rid of him etc., for getting drunk ?
Hey did’nt Cabaye just claim he was surprised at the drinking culture at the club.
What i dont get is we had a guy who was drunk all the time (and still is at Liverpool)who beat people up and used glasses on others, but he was a toon hero.
Whats that about ?
We all know that too !

Unfortunately, he is getting a rap sheet a mile long. And people’s issues are not so much that he got drunk, its when he did it. Andy and Kev were frequently seen out on the town after a win, and fair enough, footballers deserve to celebrate just as fans do. But going out and getting plastered 24 hours before a game isn’t on. How can he expect to be at his best if he was called to play while battling a hangover? For me personally that’s where the issue lies.

Canada toon
Yeah right !
I’m sure i will hear from others quick to judge.
Could you list the rap sheet for me, being you seem to know a lot more than i do about his history, just stuff he was convicted of, not bad timekeeping stuff ?
And how do you know he was plastered, were you there ?
Plus any twenty year old who has a few drinks or more on a Saturday night i’m sure is quite capable of playing on the following Monday night, dont you think ?
Look to be honest this all sounds quite racist to me .

Well ! of for a late lunch, couple of Amstels and watch it on the big screen.
Hopefully we will be in third place before the witching hour.
Looking forward to a good game, against a never say die side, with a bit of luck and better technical skills we can pick up all three points.
But don’t get me wrong we all know what a tough place the Britannia is to come to, rabid support etc.
I would almost settle for a draw, almost !
Later.

Well he spent 11 weeks in a young offenders institute when he was at crystal palace for armed robbery. Then there was the assault in the summer, and then the drinking and driving, now the drunk and disorderly, and that’s not including the fact that he fancies himself a gangster posing with guns.

And as a 24 year old, and an exercise physiologist, I’m telling you he wouldn’t be able to play at his best after being drunk 24 hours before.